MALE ACADEMIC ATHLETE OF THE YEAR VIHAN LAKSHMAN

It was sort of a trick question, and, as usual, Vihan Lakshman got it right.

Asked when was the last time he got a letter grade lower than A on a report card, the Savannah Country Day senior answered, "Never."

You would have to go back before middle school, where he also got straight A's, to when teachers used assessments such "satisfactory," "needs improvement" or, in Lakshman's case, "excellent," which he always has been as a student.

"Right from pre-K, he was always top of the class," said his father, "Captain" Sankaran Lakshman.

Vihan Lakshman's work this season in the classroom and on the athletic field has earned him the Savannah Morning News' 2012 Best of Preps award as the area's top male scholar-athlete.

His haul of academic awards includes Chatham County's 2012 STAR Student for having a 4.0 grade-point average and an SAT score of 2,320 (out of 2,400), the highest in the county. He was perfect on the math and writing sections, each worth 800 points, and scored a 720 on reading.

On the playing field, Lakshman was selected All-Greater Savannah first team in both tennis and cross country as a senior. His strong kick resulted in a dramatic finish at the Region 3-A cross country meet, where he was second by 0.22 seconds.

"Going down the final stretch to win the championship, that's something you always dream about," he said, "but in the dreams, you obviously win."

Well, most of his dreams are coming true. A National Merit Scholarship winner who will attend Stanford in the fall, Lakshman is motivated by his parents, Sankaran and Kay.

"They always talk about the value of academics," Vihan said. "More than anything, it's never really felt like a labor: Staying up all night, doing homework, 'Oh my gosh, I have to do this to get good grades.' I just enjoy learning. I think that makes it a lot easier to get into it."

His proud father commends his son's intelligence and work ethic.

"Throughout his high school years, he's always been very diligent, never procrastinated," Sankaran Lakshman said. "He's probably had six hours of sleep every night for four years."

His parents started a lot earlier than that. His father, now a retired oil tanker captain, had his wife and Chicago-born son aboard for a year when he sailed the Caribbean. Vihan was a toddler, age 18 months to 30 months.

"My wife had all the time in the world to do one-on-one teaching with him," his father recalled. "By the time he was 2 1/2, he could read."

Lakshman had to argue the pros and cons (if any) of attending his final three college choices: Stanford, Harvard and Yale. There was no wrong answer.

"It was a very tough decision," he said. "I visited all three schools and I really loved them all. I found the academic opportunities at Stanford were really amazing, and the weather was pretty great."